As the old joke goes many people can’t travel on holiday without taking the kitchen sink. However, King Charles III seemingly takes this to the extreme. 

Rather than trying to fit his sink into a suitcase, the King prefers to travel with a truck full of his furniture when he visits friends for the weekend.

Writing in his bestseller Rebel King, author Tom Bower revealed the array of eclectic belongings Charles brought with him during a visit to the North East of England.

These items varied from a his own bed to his very own luxury toilet rolls to make the King’s stay is as pleasant as possible. 

Bower wrote: ‘He [The King] sent his staff ahead a day early with a truck carrying furniture to replace the perfectly appropriate fittings in the guest rooms.

‘And not just the odd chest of drawers: the truck contained nothing less than Charles and Camilla’s complete bedrooms, including the Prince’s orthopaedic bed, along with his own linen.

‘His staff had also made sure to pack a small radio, Charles’s own lavatory seat, rolls of Kleenex Premium Comfort lavatory paper, Laphroaig whisky and bottled water (for both bedrooms), plus two landscapes of the Scottish Highlands.’

On top of this, Charles also travels with his own organic food which arrived shortly after his furniture.

King Charles III sat at his desk in Buckingham Palace. While like to travel with the kitchen sink, the King prefers truck full of his furniture 

King Charles III tucking into a salad while on a royal tour of Australia. Charles allegedly brings his own organic food taken with him when he visits friends 

‘His hosts decided, despite their enjoyment of his company, not to invite him again,’ Bower said.

Charles’ decision to bring his own food is perhaps less surprising.

Indeed, the King allegedly has an ability to make simple dishes extravagant in order to suit his palate.  

Tom Quinn writing in Yes Ma’am – his bestseller about the history of the royal servants  – claimed there was a very particular way the monarch likes his eggs cooked for his afternoon tea.

Quinn wrote: ‘He [the King] had never once cooked his own eggs and muffins. Because, like many people, Charles is fussy about how his own eggs are cooked, and because eggs are notoriously difficult to get just right, he insists that six eggs should be cooked so that at least two will be just as he likes them.’

If true, this means if Charles was to enjoy his eggs and muffins every afternoon, the royal kitchen would go through an average 42 eggs a week in order to provide the King with his perfect eggs.

However, the royals have in the past denied this allegation that the King has multiple eggs cooked at once. 

Writing in her royal biography The Palace Papers, royal insider Tina Brown claimed that the King travelled with a premixed martini on hand when he was attending dinner parties.

Charles enjoying a cocktail in 2018. He also likes to travel with a premixed martini at hand during  events 

The King and Queen Camilla in May this year 

‘Unlike the Queen, who always ate what she was served, the Prince stipulated his menu preferences up-front, and sometimes arrived at dinner with his protection officer bearing a martini premixed and ready to be handed to the butler and served in his own glass,’ Brown wrote. 

Away from eggs and martinis, Charles has other interesting eating habits. 

Up until a few years ago the King was known to not eat lunch. However, at the request Queen Camilla and doctors, Charles has now started eating a midday meal where he enjoys half an avocado.

Charles also occasionally swaps meats for a plant-based diet to reduce his carbon footprint. He told the BBC in 2021: ‘For years I haven’t eaten meat and fish on two days a week and I don’t eat dairy products on one day a week.’

The King also likes putting his own very unique spin on classic meals.

These fresh takes on popular dishes often involve using game meat – which is known to be a favourite among the royals.

When he was guest editing Country Life in 2018, Charles revealed that he invented a grouse coq au vin and a grouse moussaka which he calls ‘groussaka’. 

The magazine also featured his favourite recipe – pheasant crumble pie.

Charles also foregoes English Breakfast tea, preferring to drink Darjeeling tea with honey and milk.

Away from his travels, Charles is also notoriously precious about keeping his cherished garden at Highgrove pristine. 

King Charles III in the garden at Highgrove in June 2019. The garden  is Charles’ pride and joy with the stately home becoming a sanctuary for the King and Queen

And his high standards have ruffled more than a few feathers among staff.

Last month, reports emerged that low pay and staff shortages, coupled with the monarch’s demanding attention to detail, had prompted an exodus of horticulturists employed to keep his Gloucestershire garden in good shape.

Over the past three years, 11 of the 12-strong gardening team have quit, including the head gardener and his deputy.

However, this is not the first time the tranquil green space has been at the centre of gardener-related drama.

Bower recalled the time Sir Roy Strong had a testy encounter with Charles when he was invited to Highgrove.

Bower claimed that the King ‘summoned people to drive the two hours from London for even the briefest meeting’ but it was one few refused.

 He wrote: ‘Roy Strong was summoned to advise on the cultivation of hedges. He spent days with his own gardener perfecting his ideas.’

‘At the end he submitted his employee’s bill for £1,000 – and was never asked to return, or even thanked. Strong had personally inscribed a copy of his book on gardening to Charles, but it was left in a waiting room rather than included in the prince’s library.’

‘”He’s shocked by the sight of an invoice,” Strong noted. “So he likes people who don’t charge for their services”.’

Highgrove and its garden as viewed from above. With his passion for nature, King Charles takes a particular interest in the award-winning garden which surrounds the estate

The King, who is known to patrol the grounds with a pair of secateurs, regularly offers feedback on the garden, writing handwritten notes to staff in red ink, expressing delight or upset at the progress of individual plants or flowers.

While some workers appreciate his interventions, others told the Sunday Times they found his feedback impolite and demoralising, it is claimed.

In late 2023, one member of staff filed a grievance against management claiming the gardening team were under-resourced and struggling to fulfil the King’s demands.

The employee’s complaint said some staff had developed physical injuries because they were overwhelmed with work and there was low morale among the team.  

‘There is little management of HMTK (His Majesty the King’s) expectations and I know I would not be allowed to say we are understaffed,’ the claim said.

The gardener also alleged he was shouted at and given a dressing down by Constantine Innemee, the executive director of Highgrove and one of the King’s most trusted advisers, when he suggested to Charles that he would need a specialist member of staff if he wanted to cultivate his magnolias in a specific way.

The grievance led to an external investigation by the King’s Foundation, the charitable organisation that now runs the garden.